What is the most important invention or innovation from your lifetime so far?

Welcome to Voice of the Engineer (formerly 5 Engineers), where we toss out a question and invite our audience to respond with their wittiest answers.

In teh past, we've asked about National Engineers Week and how engineers celebrate it. One comment stood out for me. R Bowles said: I’ll look back at the last 40 years and smile, then lift a toast in anticipation to the next 40 years. Nicely put, R. You’re answer immediately made me think back to the 1970s and what’s been invented since then.

So here’s our question for this week: What is the most important invention or innovation from your lifetime so far? What would you toast?

Post your short answers below and be sure to stay tuned to this blog for more questions in the weeks to come.

Editor's note: This blog was originally posted on Feb 17, 2012, and updated on Oct 3, 2013.